The New Recruit
by Witch4
Summary: There's a new recruit in Atlantis and she's throwing the men of the city off balance. Who is she? Chapter 6 is up and the story is finished!
1. Ronon Meets His Match

The New Recruit-Chapter 1-Ronon Meets His Match

* * *

Ronon Dex, specialist in the late Satedan military, was not in a good mood. He had spent the last hour being beaten in single hand-to-hand combat by a young female Airman half a foot shorter than him and less than half his weight and had since had to endure the taunts from the other expedition members in the gym who had witnessed his defeat. Despite having glared and growled at the various people gathered, no one had felt threatened.

As he stormed into the commissary, grabbed a tray, and started loading it up, he caught sight of the very object of his black mood; Airman First Class Charlene Ballard had just walked into the commissary with her boss, or one of her bosses, Dr. Radek Zelenka. Choosing to ignore the beautiful blonde who, much to the chagrin of many of Atlantis's male population, refused to be ordered around even though she was enlisted and many of them were officers, Ronon chose a seat on the far side of the room where his back would be to the wall and he could observe the goings on of his colleagues.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Ronon almost jumped from his seat at the question of Lt. Col. John Sheppard as the shorter man sat down across from him.

"Nothing," came his terse reply.

"So, your bad mood has nothing to do with the fact that McKay and Zelenka's new assistant almost beat the crap out of you during your training session with the new recruits?"

"Or it could be that he was beaten by a woman, sir," Maj. Lorne put in as he joined the two men.

"That's true. I don't think very many people have ever been able to beat Ronon."

"You know, I heard that her dad was a SEAL, one of her brothers is in Special Forces, and another is a Marine. It could be that she learned to fight from one of them."

"Or it could be that she has three black belts in three separate martial arts disciplines," a soft female voice cut in, causing both senior officers to jump in their seats.

"You should better than to sneak up on people, Airman," Sheppard scolded.

"Yes, sir, I was simply going to point out that you shouldn't talk about people behind their backs when they are standing behind yours." She turned to Ronon. "Sir, I just wished to apologize for beating you earlier. Sometimes I forget that not very many people my size or gender can throw someone your size half-way across a room."

"Apologies are unnecessary, Airman."

"Yes, sir," she saluted all three men and returned to her seat beside Dr. Zelenka a few tables behind them.

"May I ask what that was about?" Dr. Rodney McKay questioned his teammates and Lorne as he joined the three men.

"Ronon was beaten by your assistant earlier during the training sessions for new recruits. She just came by to apologize for throwing him half-way across the gym," Lorne informed the physicist.

"So, you've been having trouble with her, too?" Rodney asked.

"What do you mean, 'trouble with her, too'?" Sheppard asked the Canadian.

"She said that my calculations for a greater input from the naquadah generators were off by three decimals. Can you believe that? Three decimals!"

"Was she right?"

"Yes, actually; although, I don't see how that's possible since her IQ has only been tested at 153."

"Yes, Rodney, that's hard to believe."

"But does that mean that we now have enough power for the city's shield if we need it?" Lorne asked him.

"Yes, it does mean that if we have another emergency that requires we activate the shield, we'll have enough power to use it."

"So, it's a good thing that she corrected you, then," Sheppard finished.

"Yes, it's a good thing."

"That's all we needed to know, McKay."

"But that's not all that there is to her. Carson and I found out that her ATA gene is almost as strong as yours, Colonel."

"And that means what, exactly?"

"That means that she might be able to activate Ancient technology as quickly as you can."

"So, the Colonel's not special anymore?"

"Well, I'm not unique anymore. I've always been special, Lorne."

"Of course, sir."

Their discussion was interrupted by Dr. Weir asking them to report to the Gate room. Ronon noticed that Zelenka and Ballard were also asked to report for the mission briefing.

* * *

Okay, so who's Airman Ballard and why was she able to beat Ronon? Why did she correct McKay? Is her ATA gene really almost as strong as Sheppard's? More to come. Please review! 


	2. Journey to M3X179

The New Recruit-Chapter 2-Journey to M3X-179

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention this, but I don't own any of the original Stargate: Atlantis characters; only those I created from my heat-frazzled mind.

* * *

"According to the MALP telemetry, M3X-179 might contain an unidentified energy source-"

"What do you mean, 'might'?" Sheppard interrupted Kavanaugh as the scientist fidgeted under the watchful gaze of his superiors and Airman Ballard.

"I mean that we haven't been able to ascertain whether or not there is an actual energy source on the planet-"

"Which is why the eight of you, yes, Kavanaugh, you too, will be doing reconnaissance and possibly bringing back Ancient technology. You leave at 1000 tomorrow. Dismissed."

The eight expedition members grudgingly left their leader's office and headed towards their respective areas.

* * *

The next day, Sheppard, Teyla, McKay, Ronon, Zelenka, Ballard, Lorne, and Kavanaugh, accompanied by six Marines, walked through the Stargate to the planet that had been designated M3X-179. Two of the Marines stayed at the Gate in case something happened in either part of the mission while the rest of the team took up positions with McKay, Zelenka, and Kavanaugh in the center of their group with Sheppard and Teyla in front, Lorne and Ronon in the back, and Ballard and each of the Marines in teams of two at each side.

Ten minutes later, everyone was fed up with the bickering that was coming from Kavanaugh and McKay. "If you two don't want to be left behind, I suggest you both shut-up, unless there's an actual reason for either of you to talk, and get along," Airman Ballard snapped at the scientists. Surprised by their subordinate's outburst, the two men stopped arguing and just stared at the young woman on their left, who immediately looked away, "Sorry, but you're getting really annoying, sirs."

"Thank-you, Airman. I was just about to say the same thing-" Sheppard began.

"With much more colorful language, right, Colonel?"

He stared at the young woman on his left and nodded. "Yeah, with a _lot_ more colorful language."

The group fell into a companionable silence with the occasional mention of where the energy signature was emanating from one of the scientists, whereupon they would change their course.

An hour later, Sheppard stopped the group for a water break. The system's sun had fully risen and the planet's surface was heating up quickly.

"How can you two stand this heat, Colonel?" Maj. Lorne asked his superior and subordinate as the two surveyed the area and waited for their comrades to cool down.

"Summer in Afghanistan, Major," was Sheppard's only reply.

"My dad was always being stationed in desert areas, sir," Ballard added her history.

"So, I take it you're both used to temperatures that can reach into the 40's?" McKay asked, still disbelieving that his friend and his assistant could be so used to such high temperatures and hardly break a sweat.

"Pretty much."

"Yep."

"I see."

Standing up, Ronon questioned the three scientists as to the location of where the mysterious energy signature was coming from.

"It appears to be about two kilometres that way," Zelenka spoke up.

"So, it looks like we're continuing westward," one of the Marines, Corporal Jenkins, said as he stared in the direction the Czech was pointing in.

"It looks like there are trees in that direction," another Marine, Corporal Hernandez, said as he stared off in the direction that they would soon be headed in.

"Shade will be nice," Zelenka added as he hefted the pack he had been carrying back onto his back.

"As long as we don't run into anything resembling that last planet's inhabitants," McKay said as he strained to see the tress that Hernandez had mentioned.

Everyone nodded, remembering either the actual ursine creatures or the report that had mentioned them.

"Alright, let's continue on," Sheppard said as he left the group and continued on. Soon, everyone was back in their original formation and the group trudged on in the ever increasing heat.

Almost two hours later, they reached the trees and what appeared to be a temple dedicated to the Ancients. "The energy signature is coming from in there," McKay said as he pointed into the stone entrance. Zelenka and Kavanaugh nodded their agreement and soon they had formulated a plan.

"Marines, I want you to stay out here and watch for any sign of hostiles. It looks like the corridor separates in two different directions. McKay, Teyla, Zelenka, and I will go left. Ronon, Lorne, Ballard, and Kavanaugh, you go right. If neither group is out in two hours, Lin and Hernandez, I want you to go in for us while Jenkins and Kensey call for back-up, agreed?" Sheppard looked at his team who all nodded their agreement to this plan, though Ronon's team were annoyed that they would have to deal with Kavanaugh who seemed to be still wary of Ballard, and they soon parted ways; the Marines staying outside the temple to warn those inside of any impending danger, Sheppard's group going left once they entered the building and Ronon's group going right.

* * *

All right! I've gotten another chapter up! Yay me! So, what do you think? Please review! This is my first Stargate: Atlantis fanfic. Also, I was told that some might not know what McKay means by "40's;" it means 40 degrees Celsius. Also, thank you to CFlat for catching a mistake that Lili and I both missed. 


	3. The Path Splits Again

The New Recruit-Chapter 3-The Path Splits Again

Thank you for the reviews! I apologize if the character of Airman Ballard seems a little too much like Mary Sue, but I honestly have been working on this character for a month (I was just waiting for my beta-reader to get around to reading the story-thanks Lili!). And now, on with the story!

* * *

"You're sure that there's an energy signature coming from that corridor?" Sheppard asked McKay and Zelenka as their little troupe continued on down the hall they had taken when the team had split up.

"Yes, and one from that direction, as well," Zelenka added as he pointed to another corridor on the left side of their fork in the road.

"Okay, so I guess we're splitting up. Teyla, you and Zelenka go left; McKay and I will go right. Lorne," Sheppard spoke into his radio. "We've encountered a fork in the road with two different energy sigs, one coming from each direction. We're going to split up."

"Understood; we've come across our own fork and are about to split up, too," Lorne's voice responded.

"We'll remain in radio contact. And guys, don't try to kill each other," the colonel added as an afterthought, knowing that, despite the fact that Ballard and Kavanaugh worked in the same area, the young airman might get the idea to leave her colleague in the maze that the temple was sure to become. _Come to think of it_, he thought to himself, _Ronon might do the same thing. We still don't know that much about either of them and I don't want to leave even the most annoying-_

His ranting thought was cut off by Teyla placing her hand on his arm. "Colonel, we'll meet back here, agreed?" Leave it to the Athosion leader to think of something so simple that he had forgotten about it.

"Uh, yeah, we'll meet back here. Radio contact at all times, got it?"

"Yes," she answered before disappearing down the corridor after the Czech scientist.

* * *

"Okay, people, so now that we've hit this fork in the road, we're going to have to split up. Kavanaugh, you're with me. Ronon and Ballard, you go left, we'll go right. Understood?" Maj. Lorne looked around at his group who all nodded in understanding.

"Yes, sir," Ballard answered before disappearing down the left corridor.

"We meet back here, got it?" he told Ronon who only nodded before following the young woman.

_At least I don't have to worry about either of them killing Kavanaugh or purposely leaving him down here, although there's a thought that almost every single person on Atlantis might agree to doing_, the major thought to himself as he followed the long-haired scientist down the right corridor.

* * *

"Do you know how far it is to this energy source?" Ronon asked the woman in front of him.

"According to the reader, it's about thirty or so yards ahead of us," she answered, looking up from the electronic device that she had pulled out of her pack soon after they entered the temple.

They remained silent for ten minutes until Ronon, who usually enjoyed the quiet, decided to ask his companion the question that had bothering him since the day before when she had thrown him half-way across the gym during training.

"How were you able to do that?"

"Do what?" she asked without looking back at the burly Satedan.

"Throw me across the room like that," he answered in a tone that said, _what did you think I meant?_

"I don't know; I guess it's because-" she was cut off from answering as the floor beneath them gave way to a smooth stone slide before they could even react.

* * *

Okay, so that's chapter 3. I apologize (again) if this chapter confuses anyone, but I just love a cliff-hanger, don't you? 


	4. Down the Rabbit Hole

The New Recruit-Chapter 4-Down the Rabbit Hole

Once again, thank you for the reviews!

* * *

"I don't know; I guess it's because-" she was cut off from answering as the floor beneath them gave way to a smooth stone slide before they could even react.

As they slid down the smooth stone, Ronon attempted to stop his rapid descent by jamming one of his daggers into the slide. It didn't help. As soon as the smaller airman hit him, Ronon lost his grip on the dagger's hilt and both he and Ballard continued the slide down into the unknown. Moments later, they landed in what appeared to be an underground chamber below the temple.

"What the hell happened?" Ballard asked as she brushed off the dust and dirt from their little journey off of herself before checking the reader to make sure that it wasn't damaged, or, if it was damaged, if she would be able to fix it.

"The floor opened up and we landed in some kind of chamber," Ronon answered.

"Thanks for the obvious statement. I meant, what the hell happened to your knife." She pointed at the shard of blade that had landed a few feet away from them.

"It broke from our combined weight," he said as he picked up the metal and examined it. He would have to replace it when they got back to Atlantis. _If_ they got back to Atlantis.

"Well, then, let's continue on. There's an energy signature coming from that direction," she pointed ahead of them and started on, ignoring the glaring Satedan as he took four quick steps and caught up with her.

* * *

"Did you hear something?" McKay asked Sheppard as the two men continued on down the tunnel they had found themselves in.

Neither man was quite sure what had happened; all they knew was that one minute they were following the direction that the energy reader had picked up the signature as coming from, and the next moment they were hurtling down and smooth stone slide. Following their unexpected trip into the bowls of the stone temple, they had found themselves in an underground chamber.

"Yeah. This is Sheppard; did anyone – hello?" His question was answered by static on the radio.

"We must be too far underground for the radio signals to be picked up. The energy signal is coming from ahead of us," McKay said as they continued on down the tunnel.

* * *

"Major Lorne, Dr. Kavanaugh, can either of you hear me?" Teyla called into her radio as she followed Zelenka down the hall they had found themselves in.

"I think we are too far down for them to pick up radio signal," the Czech scientist told the woman walking behind them.

"You are probably right. That does not mean that they are not trying to contact us as well. Is the energy signature becoming stronger?" she asked him.

"Yes; it would appear that whatever is giving off this signal is less than a meter away."

* * *

"No answer from anyone. You're sure that whatever device you guys picked up is down here?"

"Yes, Major. For the sixth time, yes. Whatever it is, it's less than a meter away and the signal is getting stronger." Dr. Kavanaugh snapped at the military man as they followed the directions the energy reader was giving them.

* * *

Okay, so that was kind of short, but I promise more is yet to come. 


	5. Like an Indiana Jones Movie

The New Recruit-Chapter 5-Like an Indiana Jones Movie

* * *

Unknown to the other three teams, each group of two headed towards the source of whatever energy signal was showing up on their scanners.

"Are you sure that it's behind this wall?"

"Yes, Colonel; I'm sure," McKay snapped at the American as they searched for something that might open the wall.

"What should we be looking for?"

"Anything that shows signs of much use," Zelenka told Teyla as they, too, searched the dead-end wall they had come upon.

"Kind of reminds you of an Indiana Jones movie, right Doc?" Maj. Lorne asked Kavanaugh as the two men tried to find a way through the stone.

"Except that this is real life, Major, not a movie," the scientist, who had been getting annoyed by the little bits of conversation the major had tried to start, answered.

"What are you talking about?" Ronon looked through the darkness at the woman standing beside him.

"Relic Hunter was this show my brothers and I used to watch when we were kids. It was about this female scientist who traveled all over the world with her teaching assistant and found lost relics of the ancient world. They were always getting into sticky situations. Either that or this place reminds me of an Indiana Jones movie," she said as she searched for some sort of panel or button that would open the wall and reveal whatever was hidden behind it.

"The man who discovered your planet's Holy Grail?" He asked her, still slightly confused by Earth pop culture.

"Yeah, that guy. Have you found anything yet?"

"No. You?"

"No-wait, yes. I think I did."

"You're sure, Doctor?" Teyla asked the Czech.

"Of course I'm sure, major!" Kavanaugh snapped at Lorne.

"Well, are you going to press it or not?" Sheppard asked the Canadian standing next to him.

All four scientists, although whether it was at the same moment or not (no one is still quite sure who the first to press the panel was), pushed on the loose bricks they had discovered and all eight stood back as the walls began to back away.

"Well, well, well, fancy meeting you folks here," Sheppard commented as he and McKay walked into the room.

"I'm guessing you all fell through the hole in the floor, flew down a slide, and ended up in some sort of underground chamber like in an Indiana Jones Movie?" Lorne asked his CO as they watched the four scientists congregate on a single spot in the center of the room.

"Yeah, pretty much." The colonel answered.

"I am still unsure as to what you are referring to," Teyla told the men as she joined them and Ronon off to the side of the room as their teammates argued and pored over what their readings said.

"We'll show you later," Sheppard promised as they watched the arguing scientists.

"I'm telling you, it has to be this stone that triggers it," McKay was saying to, or rather, yelling at, Kavanaugh.

"Will you guys please just listen?" Ballard asked, annoyed at the childishness of her colleagues.

"It looks like a puzzle," Zelenka was saying over the commotion.

"That's what it looks like to me, too," she told the Czech.

"So, if we just move this stone here-"

"No, wait. It's written in Ancient which means that something is missing because 'Come to we call you' just makes no sense."

"Ah, yes, I see. Rodney, Kavanaugh, is you listening?" he asked the still bickering scientists.

"I don't think they are; excuse me," Ballard said as she walked over to her "bosses" and, leaning over so that she could read what the stones they were yelling at each other about said, pushed them aside so that she could lift the bricks and move them to the stone "table" that Zelenka had found in the floor.

"Hey! What the hell-" McKay and Kavanaugh started before they saw what their colleagues were doing.

"Is that what I think it is?" McKay asked as he quickly slipped back into his scientist persona.

"Probably; is this grammatically correct?" Ballard asked him as she pointed out the order she and Zelenka had placed the stones.

"Uh-'Come to/the temple and/lose your way/fly past the stairs of/night and day/place us right and you will see/come to us/we call you/progeny.' I think so, although it doesn't make that much sense."

"It's a poem, McKay. It's talking about that little adventure we had," Sheppard told the Canadian.

"And the progeny must refer to someone with ATA gene," Zelenka added.

"Which would mean that either you or Ballard will have to activate it, Colonel," Kavanaugh added as he re-read the bricks.

Sheppard approached the Scrabble-like stone in the floor and bent down so that he would have a better look at it. "How, Kavanaugh? There's nothing here for me to touch."

"Will you just shut-up? There's something missing here. It's circular, like some sort of key," McKay said as he studied the brown stone.

"Like that red stone in the wall?" Teyla asked as she approached the opposite wall and inspected the stone.

Ronon joined her and, taking out a knife, carefully shifter the gem out of the rock. They rejoined the group and he handed the dusty red stone to McKay who then proceeded to try to push it into the circle.

"That's not going to work," Ballard and Teyla said at the same time; Teyla took the knife from Ronon while Ballard took the stone and inspected it.

"There is a notch or hole of some kind," Teyla observed as she quickly cleared the brown circle of several millennia worth or dirt and dust.

"Well, there's a deformity of some kind on the bottom of this stone, so that must be what goes in the notch," Ballard confirmed as she deftly placed the red circle, deformity in the notch, into the brown circle and moved so that Sheppard could try to activate the device.

"Why isn't it working?" Lorne asked the group of scientists.

"I don't know, Major! Airman, could you please try to activate the device?" McKay turned to the blonde woman.

"Sure." She switched places with Sheppard and pressed the red jewel. Still nothing happened.

Rodney also attempted to activate whatever the device was, was to no avail. With no other brilliant solutions, he asked the five remaining members of the group to try. It still didn't work.

"So, now what?" Sheppard asked.

Zelenka, who had remained silent since observing the ingenuity of Teyla and Ballard, spoke up again. "Colonel, Airman, try together. Look at the stone; it is at least 7 or 8 centimeters, yes?" He looked at everyone gathered around. "Well, why not try to get two people to activate it. You both have close to the same natural ability to activate Ancient technology."

"Radek, that just might work," McKay told the Czech. Turning to the colonel and airman, he said, "Give it a try."

Wordlessly, they leaned over the stones again and, at the same time, pushed the jewel down. A moment later, the large stone that contained the Ancient bricks moved up. Everyone moved backwards as a glowing light emerged from the below the stone.

"What the hell-"

When the ground finally stopped moving, they gathered around the newly-emerged podium.

"It's a Zed-PM! We've found a Zed-PM!" McKay yelled for joy.

"Yeah, there's just one problem," Lorne said as he watched Zelenka and Ballard remove the glowing ZPM.

"Which would be what?" Kavanaugh asked as he observed the scene with only mild irritation.

"We still don't know how to get out of here. Remember the long slide-ride down?"

Everyone quieted down and stared in realization at the major.

"He's right. We do not know how to get out of here," Teyla said.

"We could probably use that staircase that's behind Kavanaugh, though," Ronon said as he nodded towards the doorway behind the long-haired scientist.

Seven heads whipped around to stare at the opening that had appeared behind the bespectacled man.

"That makes sense," Lorne said as he, Sheppard, and Ronon approached the dark doorway.

"If you're wondering whether or not there's anything that goes bump in the night, you shouldn't worry. There's nothing up there," a quiet female voice told the three men.

Quickly turning around, they stared at Airman Ballard who they obviously hadn't heard sneak up on them.

"Just go up, this thing is heavy," she said as she hefted the ZPM.

Cautiously, they turned back to the doorway and, turning on the flashlights on their P90s, started the trek up the stairs; all three wondering how she could know that nothing would attack them as they trudged up the stairs.

Ten minutes later, the eight expedition members emerged into the dying sunlight of M3X-179. They were soon greeted by four of the six Marines they had left outside the temple.

"Jamison and Chomsky went back to the gate," Corporal Jenkins informed his CO.

"How long were we gone?" Lorne asked the men.

"About 96 minutes, sir," Hernandez answered as he showed his watch to the major.

"I would have thought we'd been gone longer," Sheppard nodded to the Marines.

"You've obviously never gone spelunking, Sir," Ballard said as she approached the men who once again jumped upon hearing her voice.

"Please don't don that again, Airman," Sheppard chided as he motioned for them to start walking. "Let's go. Jamison, this is Sheppard, we're on our way back to the Gate," he spoke to the radio.

"Understood, sir," Jamison answered back.

"Yeah, that was definitely like an Indiana Jones movie," Sheppard heard Lorne tell the remaining Marines as they followed their leader.

* * *

Okay, that was a _loooong_ chapter. I hope you all liked it. 


	6. A New Power Source & Some Things Explain

The New Recruit-Chapter 6-A New Power Source & Some Things Explained

Okay, so it was pointed out to me that Kavanaugh hasn't been around in the series for a while. The reason he's in my story is because I've only seen season 1 (don't have cable/satellite), so apologies to anyone wondering why he's been put in my story. I just felt that he was arrogant enough to be allowed to show up. Also, sorry it took so long to post, I've had a busy college life. And now, on with the show!

* * *

"Welcome back," Dr. Weir greeted the 14 people who walked through the Stargate. As she approached the team, she noticed that the youngest member of the team carried a glowing object wrapped in her jacket. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you think that it's a powerful Zed-PM that can probably power up a large portion of the city, than yes, that's what it is," McKay told the expedition's leader.

"Well, then, congratulations."

"The ones you should congratulate are Sheppard, Teyla, Zelenka, and Ballard," Maj. Lorne put in as he followed the Marines out of the Gate room. "They're the ones who figured it out and got the thing out."

Dr. Weir gave the major her patented '_Care to explain in depth?_' look as all 14 mission members walked out of the room.

"Debrief in…"

"One hour, Colonel."

* * *

"So, can someone explain to me, again, what happened?" Elizabeth asked the fourteen people gathered around the table.

"I left the six marines outside the temple. The rest of us split up into four groups," Sheppard started. "Each pair locked onto what I can only surmise was the same energy signature, and followed the trail. We all took a ride down a stone slide and ended up in some sort of underground chamber. We all ended up behind four walls that led to the same inner chamber that housed the ZPM. It took the combined ATA gene of me and Airman Ballard to get the podium thing that had the ZPM in it to rise up out of the floor."

"I see. Do we know how much power it has?" she asked, turning to the four scientists in the room.

"Dr. McKay's conclusions earlier about the ZPM being able to power up a sizable portion of the city were not completely off. It does have quite a lot of power, but not enough to power anything for very long," Ballard answered.

"I don't understand," Sheppard turned to his subordinate.

"The ZPM we found appears to have been like a rechargeable battery. It was recharged several times before we found it. If we were to use it to power up anything large, all of the power could possibly be drained from it within a few hours."

"So what do you suggest?" Dr. Weir asked the airman and the three doctors.

"We use the ZPM sparingly. That way, we can monitor the energy output and figure out what it was used for," Zelenka added.

"Alright then, keep me apprised."

The rest of the meeting was the standard review of what else they had seen, which didn't take very long. The debriefing was soon over and everyone left for their respective offices, labs, work areas, quarters, or one of the city's recreational/work-out areas. Everyone that is, except for the three men of Atlantis's flagship team.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" Dr. Carson Beckett asks as he sees Sheppard, Ronon, and McKay enter the infirmary.

"You got a moment, Doc?"

"Aye; what is it?"

"We need to talk to you about Airman Ballard."

"What about her?"

The three men explained what had happened in the underground room and their suspicions about the young woman.

"I see. So, you think that because she is an extremely gifted young woman who has been able to match you three in your respective fields and told you that you dinnae have to worry about any surprise attacks when you left the chamber, she's automatically a threat to the city?"

"Not a threat, per se, Carson. More like, we don't know anything about her and it's kind of freaking us out," McKay said.

"I see."

"So, what can you tell us about her that won't break doctor-patient privileges?"

Carson thought for a moment before answering. You could always ask her, you know. Aside from that, I would say that I know about as much as you do. Now, if that's all, I need to go check on Lt. Chalmers' charts so that I can release him." Without waiting for an answer, the Scotsman left his colleagues alone and approached the only occupied bed in the room.

"So that's it, then? We just go ask her?" McKay asked his companions as they left the infirmary.

"Ask who what?" a young feminine voice inquired from behind them. The men turned and were greeted by the very person they'd been talking about.

"Uh…"

"Ask me why I'm such a unique individual?" He superiors looked everywhere but directly at her. "I can tell you why, sirs. I have some psychic abilities that I inherited from my parents. At least, that only explains why I knew we were safe. The other stuff, I'm just naturally gifted." With that said the Airman moved past them and quickly turned a corner to where one of the city's transporters was located.

"What just happened?"

"I think we just had our questions asked."

_**THE END.**_

* * *

Yay! I have finished another story! Okay, so I _might_, that being the operative word, write a sequel or something that goes to this story. I haven't really decided yet. Oh well, thanks for reading! 


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